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Friday, December 17, 2010

Sarawak PKR slams BN's track record

On the front cover of yesterday's New Sarawak Tribune, Abang Johari slammed PKR with the following points:

Point 1: "I am sure the voters know the real situation. If they want a bright future for themselves and for their children, they will continue to stand by the Barisan Nasional goverment which has a proven track record of delivering all its promises."

Point 2: "If they (people) want a government that has no proven record, then they can take the risk. They have, in fact, taken that risk in the 2008 general election, but see what happen to those states in Peninsular Malaysia that are ruled by Pakatan Rakyat."

Point 3: "We must look at out own situation in Sarawak. There must be a special co-operation between the federal and state governments. Where does the money used to build Medan Niaga Satok at Jalan Matang come from? If not for the federal government this would not be possible."

PKR leader Baru Bian held a press conference later in the day, of which the response of the party is reported as follows:

KUCHING: The Barisan Nasional state government has not only failed its citizens but also turned resource-rich Sarawak into the fourth poorest state in Malaysia, said Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian.

“I believe the voters know the real situation, BN has failed Sarawakians for the past 47 years. Where has the wealth gone? Is this BN's track record that the voters want to maintain?” he asked.

Bian was reacting to Sarawak’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development Abang Johari Tun Openg.

Johari had said that the voters knew the real situation in Pakatan Rakyat and advised them that if they wanted a bright future for themselves and their children, they should continue to stand by the BN government which has a proven track record of delivering its promises.

In his response Bian said: “Batang Ai was promised RM60 million in development projects in the last by-election. How much of that RM60 million has been delivered? I would like to find out from Johari!”

Defending the states under Pakatan, he said that in the recent Auditor-General’s report, Penang came out number one in their audit and had surplus revenue.

“This is historic and a clear thumbs-up from the government’s own auditor-general. As for Selangor, it enacted a bill on environmental protection unlike Sarawak where they are chopping everything down indiscriminately and it also enacted a freedom of information bill that did not gag the media.

“Both Penang and Selangor practise transparency and good governance with the open tender system. Selangor even has a website for the public to check on government tenders. Has any BN state done this?” he asked.

Bian said that free water is given to all Penangites and Selangorians, even BN politicians are enjoying free water in these two states.

“Can BN states say the same? Has Sarawak brought clean piped water to the rural folks, let alone give them free water?” he added.

The opposition leader said Selangor has shown that it respected the rights of the Orang Asli.

In the Sagong Tasi case, the compensation given by the current Pakatan government to Orang Asli affected by the previous BN government’s encroachment on their lands resulted in many of them receiving millions of ringgit.

“Is Johari willing to compensate the people whose lands are similarly affected in Sarawak?” he asked, adding that the state government should not have appealed in the cases which the natives won.

“It is still not too late if they are serious in recognising NCR (Native Customary Rights) claims. They can still withdraw those appealed cases.

“In the Sagong Tasi case, the Pakatan state government withdrew the appeal initiated by the previous BN government with the Federal Court,” said the prominent NCR land lawyer.

There are more than 200 NCR land cases pending hearing in the High Court here.

The full press release is as follows:Abang Johari's First Point:

"I am sure the voters know the real situation. If they want a bright future for themselves and for their children, they will continue to stand by the Barisan Nasional goverment which has a proven track record of delivering all its promises."

(i) I sincerely believe that the voters know the real situation, which is that the BN has failed Sarawakians for the past 47 years. That is the real situation.

(ii) Sarawak is the fourth poorest state in Malaysia despite being the richest in terms of wealth. Where has all that wealth gone? Is this is the BN track record that voters want to maintain?

(iii) Delivering promises? Batang Ai was promised RM60 million in development projects at the last by-election. How much of that RM60 million has been delivered?

Abang Johari's Second Point:

"If they (people) want a government that has no proven record, then they can take the risk. They have, in fact, taken that risk in the 2008 general election, but see what happen to those states in Peninsular Malaysia that are ruled by Pakatan Rakyat."

(i) In the recent Auditor General's report, Penang came out No.1 in their audit and had a surplus revenue. This is a clear thumbs up from the Malaysian government's own Auditor General!

(ii) Selangor enacted a bill on environmental protection unlike Sarawak where they are chopping everything down indiscriminately. It also enacted the Freedom of Information Bill that does not gag the news media, unlike Sarawak where everything is censored eg. the White Paper.

(iii) Both Penang and Selangor practice transparency and good governance with the open tender system. Selangor even has a website where the public can check up on government tenders, at http://tender.selangor.gov.my/ Has any BN state done this?

(iv) Free water is given to all Penangites and Selangorians, even BN politicians are enjoying free water in these states. Can BN states say the same for themselves? Has Sarawak brought clean piped water to the rural folks, let alone give them free water??

(v) Selangor has shown it respects the rights of the Orang Asli. In the Sagong Tasi case, the compensation given by the current Pakatan government to Orang Asli affected by the previous BN government's encroachment on their lands resulted in many of them receiving millions. Is Abang Jo willing to compensate the people whose lands are similarly affected in Sarawak? The acid test on this point is: the State government should not have appealed in all the NCR cases which we have won. It is still not too late if they are serious on recognising NCR claims; they can still withdraw those appealed cases. In the Sagong Tasi case, the PR state government in fact withdrew the appeal initiated by the previous BN government to the Federal Court.

Abang Johari's Third Point:

"We must look at out own situation in Sarawak. There must be a special co-operation between the federal and state governments. Where does the money used to build Medan Niaga Satok at Jalan Matang come from? If not for the federal government this would not be possible."

(i) Let us be clear. This money is the rakyat's money, not the governement's! The rakyat should not be beholden or grateful for something which is rightfully theirs.

(ii) Sarawak only receives 5% of oil and gas revenues and has handed over the balance 95% to Putrajaya. So what little money they give us in return to build our roads is peanuts! PR will return 20%. It is therefore very important for the rakyat to give PR not only the State government but also the Federal government.

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